The last airbender

Book 1: Chapter 11: He knows

(Episode 15: Bato of the Water Tribe)

(Trigger Warning: Violence, dark threats)

They had kept to the air for a few days after they had left Aunt Wu, wanting to make up for some lost time. But now Appa was tired, and Miko had started feeling nauseous, so they decided to land by a beach and rest for a bit. Miko, Katara, and Sokka started to make up camp, pitching the tents, gathering wood for the fire and simply getting ready for the night, while Aang had gone of "exploring" as he had put it.

Miko had managed to argue enough with Sokka, so he would let her help with the camp, she said that now that the older Avatars had told her that spirits were making sure her unborn baby was safe, there was no need for her to be as careful as she had before. Sokka had found no argument in that, and had let her help Katara fixing their tent.

"Hey Sokka! Come over here!" Aang yelled. He was standing by the shore, holding up a peculiar looking sword. "Look, a sword made out of whale tooth" 

Sokka promptly dropped everything he had in his hands and ran over to the young monk, slipping down the slope from the small hill they had placed their camp on only to snatch the sword out of Aang's hands.

"Let me see that" Sokka carefully inspected the weapon as he took a few steps away from Aang. Miko and Katara walked over to them, leaving the tents halfway done to see what the commotion was about. The older sibling seemed to freeze, as if deep in a old memory, then he quickly shook it off, turning back to the others.

"This is a water tribe weapon. Try seeing is you can find anything else" Sokka nearly snapped, and him and Aang started to scan the area for more items. Miko and Katara finally manage to come over to them, having been more careful while going down the muddy slope.

"Did someone lose something?" Katara asked, looking from the Avatar to her brother and then to Miko.

"No, but we did find something" Aang grinned. He had a happy look on his face as he pointed to the weapon clutched in Sokka's hand.

The gang was silent for a few minutes as they kept looking for more weapons, or anything that could give them a clue of what had happened. It was nearly panicked silence that took over them as both Katara and Sokka desperately search for more water tribe items. The silence was not broken until Miko sat down carefully, brushing aside some leaves and held up a broken spearhead.

"Sokka, Katara, Aang. I found something. It seems to be burned" she spoke as she stood up, turning towards her friends. Sokka was over in an instant, taking the broken weapon out of her hands. He was nodding along to what she had deducted, his eyebrows furrowing worriedly.

"There's also scorch marks on the trees" Miko pointed out, glancing over to the treeline that was covered in soot. 

"There was a battle! Water Tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders" Sokka exclaimed, then he turned around to look at the slope they had just walked down, scorch marks also covering the grass on the ground. "The firebenders fought back, but the warrior drove them down this hill."

Sokka abruptly ran back up the slope, through their camp, towards another part of the beach, Katara, Aang, and Miko hurrying after him. He came to a stop as he reached the end of the trail, right where the sandy beach started. 

"So, then what happened?" Aang asked, excitement filling his face.

"I don't know, the trail ends here" Sokka sighed, disappointment taking over his entire body. 

"I'm sure there's something else that can tell us what happened, Sokka, we just have to look for it" Miko walked over to him and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, giving him a encouraging smile.